


first year family

by wisewolf



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Autistic Cady Heron, Autistic Gretchen Wieners, Families of Choice, Fluff, Found Family, Multi, Nonbinary Janis Sarkisian, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, each chapter can stand alone kinda but they build up, trans damian hubbard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26720977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisewolf/pseuds/wisewolf
Summary: When Janis applied to the University of California, San Diego, it'd been a reach. They'd been fully ready to get rejected and end up stuck in Philadelphia with their mildly transphobic mom and stepdad, but when the acceptance email came, they'd been shocked.Now, they've moved all the way across the country to sunshine-y San Diego, and it's going to be a culture shock for sure, but maybe their five new and eclectic roommates can help them get used to the new scary world that is college.(or, the one where the gang is attending UCSD, and they all live together)
Relationships: Cady Heron/Aaron Samuels, Damian Hubbard & Janis Sarkisian, Karen Smith/Gretchen Wieners, Regina George/Janis Sarkisian
Comments: 12
Kudos: 28





	first year family

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you all know this fic is me projecting on the highest order, so don't fucking @ me about this shit lmao. so many headcanons, so much projection, and so much work
> 
> i hope you enjoy

September 15th, 2019.

Janis doesn’t exactly know what they expected move-in day to be like at UCSD, but after their struggles with financial aid information being sent to the wrong email (how the hell did they even get their spam email?), being confused over when to submit the insurance waiver (is it annual or quarterly?), and the general lack of information from the college itself (do we even have floor plans?), they figure it’s gonna be nothing less than a shitshow.

“Five minutes out from your new home, Jan,” their mom informs from the driver's seat. They cringe a little at the old nickname, one of the remnants of their older identity. It’s not something they want to carry over into their college life, if they’re being honest. However, after making the cross-country road trip from Philadelphia all the way to San Diego, they can’t be bothered to correct their mom and say they don’t like being called ‘Jan’ anymore. Sometimes it just isn’t worth it.

The minutes pass quickly, and Janis doesn’t know if it’s because they’re excited or fucking terrified of meeting their new roommates for the first time outside of texting and emailing. Beyond names, majors, a few interests, and their identities, Janis doesn’t know who they’ll be living with for the next year. It’s a little terrifying, moving across the country to live with people you don’t know, who you could very well not like.

Granted, these people are much more likely to respect their pronouns given the Gender Inclusive Housing option was opt-in only, which is a definite plus and firm difference from their life in Philadelphia where they didn’t assert their pronouns as much as they would’ve liked. And, so far, it seems like their roommates are all some flavor of queer, according to their introductory emails and initial, awkward text conversations, so there’s not much room for homophobia, at the very least.

Finally, their mom is pulling into the lot where they’re meant to park for move-in.

Janis pulls their sunglasses down over their eyes as they step out of the car and look around, ignoring their mom telling Freddy, their clueless but well-meaning stepdad, to start unloading the car while they go get signed in. The lot is pretty packed with people, and they see a few dragging carts to and from their cars, full to the brim with living essentials. It’s all a little… frantic, to be honest, and it just kinda amps up their anxiety a bit more as they search around for any of their roommates' unfamiliar faces.

It only takes them a few minutes to find the Lodge, apparently where they’re meant to sign in. The quad is relatively large and square, booths set up on each side to get ID cards, room keys, carts, and even a t-shirt that apparently they have to wear at orientation? When Janis picks that one up, she unfolds it and looks at the blocky “I <3 Sixth” with the purple heart and instantly regrets every decision they’ve ever made leading up to applying to UCSD.

“Maybe you could tie dye it!” their mom says encouragingly. “I know you love a blank canvas.”

“Maybe.” Janis inspects the shirt again. Perhaps it could be made better with some more color, even if they probably won’t be able to do it until they’re back in Philly for the winter holidays.

They’re in line to get a cart so they can start moving things when Janis feels a tap on the shoulder. When they turn around, they look down and see a pretty blonde girl with a wide, beaming smile. She’s in a grey tank top, short jean shorts, and comfortable, white running shoes that look rather new.

It’s-

“You’re Janis, right?” the girl says, rocking on her feet. “I wasn’t sure when I saw you a few minutes ago, but now I am! I’m Karen!”

Ah, yes.

Karen Smith, psychology major from off the waitlist. She’s from Long Beach, California; she enjoys animals, kayaking, and Nintendo; and her pronouns are she/her, and she’s pansexual.

One of their new roommates.

“Right,” Janis says, nodding a little awkwardly. They don’t really know what to do, so they just kind of wave and continue with, “It’s nice to meet you. Ma, this is one of my new roommates.”

“It’s nice to meet you, sweetheart. I’m Aileen,” she greets, shaking Karen’s hand kindly. “Do you know where your guys’ apartment is yet?”

Karen nods and turns around, pointing up to where they just came from. “We’re in C-2, right next to the dining hall. Just up those stairs and then boom! It’s us.”

“Well, it’s good to know you won’t have to walk far to eat.” Aileen nudges Janis purposefully, making them roll their eyes. It’s always been a point of contention with them, Janis’ odd eating. They’ve just always eaten on a weird schedule, it’s not something they can help.

They’re at the front of the line for the carts now. Janis hands over their drivers license (apparently so no one steals the carts) and they’re given a timestamp to return the cart by. Before they leave, they turn to Karen and give her a smile, a little amused by her exuberance. “I’ll see you at the apartment then?”

Karen gives an excited nod and says, “Thumbs up emoji!”

As they’re walking back to the car with the cart, Aileen chuckles a little and says, “Well, if Karen’s any indication, I think you should get along well with your roommates.”

Janis snorts, mostly because girls like Karen, at least in high school, never hung out with people like Janis. They don’t tell their mom that, mostly because she already knows that high school was difficult for them, and instead decide to give Karen the benefit of the doubt. She’d seemed bubbly and sweet enough.

Freddy has the car almost entirely unpacked by the time they get there with the cart, and they’re able to fit a lot of the heaviest stuff into the damn thing, thank god. He pushes it while Janis, stronger than their mother from doing weight training as their PE in high school, shrugs an Ikea bag of clothes onto their back and hefts two more bags in their hands.

“These stairs seem totally safe,” Janis mumbles under their breath, watching Freddy go up them slowly and carefully with their printer in his hands. They follow behind, squeezing into the door with their bags and into a little common area with a bright red, faux leather couch, a coffee table, and two grey, faux leather armchairs that are oddly designed. “And this place seems totally…”

They can’t even find a word to describe their new home, so they just move deeper until they find their room.

It’s small, but that was expected. Two lofted beds on either side of the room with desks beneath them, three shelves built up from the wood surface to offer some extra storage space. They set their bags down on the left side of the room and take a moment to admire the space they’ve been given.

It’ll take some touching up, but with the decorations they brought from home, they can make this place feel a little more cozy.

“Finally, salvation!”

Janis turns in time to watch a tall, large boy make his way into their new bedroom holding a stack of boxes almost taller than himself. He sets them heavily on the floor, shaking the entire room, before straightening out and wiping some sweat from his brow. When he finally looks at them, he smiles widely and holds out a hand to shake, saying:

“Damian Hubbard; actor, singer, dancer, overall fantabulous and flaming homosexual, at your service.”

“Wow,” Janis breathes out at the sudden onslaught of information. They’re a little intimidated by just how out he seems, but not in a bad way. Maybe he can help get them out of their little, baby trans shell. “Uh, Janis Sarkisian.”

“They/them, right?” Damian clarifies. They nod, just in time for a shorter, round woman to walk into the room with another stack of boxes that Damian says to just set on the floor. Janis can see the resemblance immediately between the mother and son. Damian gestures at them, then, and says, “Mom, this is Janis. They’re my roommate.”

Mrs. Hubbard shakes their hand with a force that could almost be classified as aggressive. “It’s so nice to meet you, Janis! Damian mentioned that your pronouns are they/them?”

Janis nods again, a little stunned by how easily the Hubbard’s are accepting them. They share a few more quick words, Freddy introducing himself to Mrs. Hubbard before everyone leaves the room to grab more shit from the base of the stairs.

As they’re leaving, they see a blonde ponytail disappear into the room directly off of the living room, but then they’re out the door and back down the stairs to haul more of their stuff into their room.

No one really talks much as everyone moves in, only seeing one another in short flashes in the hallways. Karen waves at them enthusiastically as she passes their room, and they offer a little salute in greeting before shaking their head and going back to hanging up their clothes in the ridiculously small cupboard UCSD apparently calls a closet.

“Now try to take it easy, Dame.”

Janis peeks their head out of the closet to see Mrs. Hubbard bidding her son goodbye. She reaches up to pull him down so she can kiss him on the cheek. He rolls his eyes a little, but hugs her nonetheless and promises, “I will.”

“And remember to change your bandages-”

“Mom, I know-”

“And eat your vegetables-!”

“Mom, I’ll be fine!” Damian laughs out, gently pushing her out of the room. “You’re only twenty minutes away, basically, relax.”

Janis ducks back into the closet, tuning out the rest of their conversation. They think about their relationship with their mom, about how it certainly isn’t as close as Damian and Mrs. Hubbard’s relationship. It’s been strained since dad died, only made worse by Freddy’s presence, but Janis is learning to tolerate him. So long as he doesn’t start asking them to call him “dad,” and he stays out of their way there won’t be any problems.

“I don’t think UCSD had people like me in mind when they decided to loft these beds,” Damian says, scratching his head as he looks up at his new bed.

When Janis finally absorbs the sight and connects the dots, they laugh at the ridiculousness.

“How are we supposed to sleep in these things!” he complains, kicking his shoes off and climbing up the ladder. He ducks his head and shimmies himself as best he can into the foot of space between the ceiling and the mattress. “This isn’t claustrophobic at all,” he says almost directly into the hideous popcorn ceiling.

They can only snort at that.

“Jan? Where are you? Freddy and I are about to leave and we wanna say goodbye.”

Janis rolls their eyes before shuffling out into the living room. Their mom and Freddy are both sweating a little, but they look pleased with the progress they’ve made.

“Thanks for helping me move in,” Janis says, hugging their mom tightly before pulling back. They only grimace a little when Freddy claps them on the shoulder, shrugging him off. “I’ll see you guys at Christmas, alright?”

“I’m gonna miss you so much,” Aileen says, tearing up.

“Ma, don’t start please,” Janis says with a chuckle, hugging her tightly again. “Take care of Tux for me, okay? You know he gets lonely when I’m gone.”

“You should’ve just brought him with you,” she teases, pulling back and swiping under her eyes. “I saw one of the girls has a dog.”

Janis nods, looking around the living room and already noticing a dog bed and a little command strip on the wall near the closet that has a leash and a harness that reads SERVICE DOG. “Apparently that’s Gretchen’s. His name is Fudge.”

They say the last of their goodbyes to their mom and Freddy before finally letting out a sigh of relief. Without the pressure of their mom looking over their shoulder at the way they’re unpacking, they can just chill with Damian and sing the showtunes they can hear playing from their room.

But for now, Janis sinks into one of the armchairs for a break. They’re more comfortable than they look, surprisingly, and Janis throws their legs over the arm and slumps deeper into it.

“Maybe you should take a break, sweetheart.”

“Mom, I’m fine. It doesn’t even hurt that bad.”

Janis opens their eyes to see another blonde girl entering the apartment with a box in her arms. She’s in a blindingly white top and the skinniest blue jeans Janis has ever seen, highlighting every asset that God has bestowed upon her. Her dirty blonde hair-- that actually lightens at the tips semi-noticeably, almost like she bleached it a long time ago and now it’s grown out majorly-- is swept up in a ponytail, and as she walks past, Janis can’t help the way they stare at her ass before tearing their eyes away and chastising themself for being creepy..

“Regina, just let me finish bringing the last of the boxes up,” the older blonde says, a hint of pleading showing through her tone. She looks around a little desperately before she locks eyes with Janis. “Why don’t you talk to your new roommate?”

When the girl turns around, Janis remembers back to the Instagram they had stalked the most heavily out of all of their new roommates:

Regina George, political science/public law major. She’s from Davidson, North Carolina; she enjoys fashion and beauty, reading, photography, drawing, and volleyball; her pronouns are she/her, and she’s, evidently, still grappling with her newly discovered identity as a lesbian, to the point that no one even knows except her new roommates.

“This really isn’t necessary, Mom,” Regina says, even as she winces a little when she takes a step out of the room. She’s not even holding anything, so Janis wonders why she’s making such a face. Maybe she pulled a muscle before the move?

“Hey, if someone’s offering to move your stuff for you, I’d take it,” Janis interjects, trying for a friendly smile as they gesture at the couch adjacent to them. “Take a load off.”

Ms. George nods and takes Regina’s hand, helping her to the couch and easing her onto the red cushion before leaving to go grab more things. It leaves Janis and Regina relatively alone, save for the sounds of people unpacking their things in their rooms and Damian’s singing.

An awkward silence grows between them, Regina shifting uncomfortably on the couch while Janis cycles through different apps on their phone to occupy their hands with a task. They don’t really know how to bring up something to talk about without being weird, so they kind of just stare intensely at their phone. Ms. George returns after a few moments with another box, announcing it’s the last of them and that she’ll leave Regina to unpack them later.

Regina twists a little to look back into her room, pointing at something and saying, “Thanks Mom. Before you go, can you bring me my sketchbook? It’s in the big pocket of my backpack.”

That piques Janis’ interest, and they watch Ms. George bring over an expensive looking sketchbook and a pink pencil case. She leans down to kiss the crown of Regina’s head and says, “I’ll leave you alone to be with your roommates for today, but I’m gonna pick you up around two tomorrow to get lunch, alright?”

“Okay,” Regina says softly, reaching up to hug her mom and give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Love you, Mom.”

“Make good choices,” Ms. George replies, and then she’s gone too.

Once she’s gone, Regina flips open the sketchbook and removes a pencil from the case, scooting back so she’s flush with the back of the couch. From Janis’ angle, they can see she’s continuing an existing drawing, but they can’t make out what of.

“It’s just a hobby, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Regina says, interrupting Janis’ thoughts. She’s giving them an amused look, obviously having caught them staring, eyes roving over their body as they kick their feet in the armchair. “I’ve been drawing since I was little, and I used to think I wanted to be a fashion designer.”

“Your art is pretty good,” Janis compliments, remembering back to the art account linked to Regina’s main instagram. They blush a little when Regina raises an eyebrow, mostly because they just revealed they stalked her Instagram enough to find her art account.

“So’s yours.” Regina smiles a little, looking back down at her drawing. She uses her thumb to smudge some of the sketchy pencil marks, giving Janis enough time to recover from a very pretty girl complimenting their art.

The silence between them isn’t as tense and weird as before, so Janis is loath to break it. Alas, they exhale a little heavily through their nose and say, “I should get back to unpacking and decorating. If I don’t do it now I’ll never do it.”

Regina lets out a short laugh and shakes her head a bit, her ponytail swaying as she does so. “Go ahead. Maybe, once we’re all a little settled, we can have dinner together?”

“Can’t wait to get lost on campus finding a place to eat with y’all.” Janis salutes before walking back into their room, leaving behind the sketching blonde to string up some polaroids, fairy lights, and art pieces.

*******

Damian and Janis end up getting along like a California wildfire, the former telling countless stories from his time spent doing theatre at both his schools and his community theatre while the latter cackle-laughs as they unpack and put up their decorations to make their room a little more… home-y.

At one point, about half an hour into one of Damian’s stories, there’s a knock on the open door that draws both of their attention:

A girl. She’s short, ginger, and standing a little awkwardly in their doorway in a simple flannel and straight leg jeans. Her eyes dart between them as she gives a half smile and a short wave. “Sorry to bother you, but I- I was just alone in my room, and I’m done unpacking, and I was wondering if I could come hang out with you guys?”

Cady Heron, mechanical engineering major. She’s originally from Kenya, but moved to Berkeley, California her junior year; she enjoys math, science, lions, and skateboarding (and she included a little aside about trying everything on the Starbucks menu, including secret drinks); her pronouns are she/her, and she’s a proud bisexual.

“Of course,” Damian says genially, using his foot to drag out Janis’ desk chair for her to sit. Once she’s seated, shifting a little to get comfortable, he launches back into his story with, “So anyways, straight white douchecanoe was-”

Cady barks out a surprised laugh and Janis rolls their eyes where they’re trying to hang a painting they did on a pair of uncooperative command strips. “I’m sorry, who?”

Damian scowls exaggeratedly and crosses his arms, saying venomously, “Straight white douchecanoe was only the senior class president of my high school. Girls fawned over him, and once-- oh this is serious tea, Janis, are you listening?”

“Yep, listening.”

“Okay, so,” he begins, gesturing wildly with his hands as he spins a tale about Straight White Douchecanoe™ and how he had a girlfriend who was an underclassmen, but at the same time, he was flirting with a girl his age, as well as having sex with one of Damian’s close girlfriends. Apparently it ended with Damian’s friend gathering up the girls to confront SWD™ at a coffee shop, and they struck the fear of god into his heart.

The cherry on top is:

“And then I beat his ass in our AP Government class election.”

Cady looks so engaged in the story the entire time, and it only makes Damian start telling even more outrageous stories that Janis can hardly believe are true, but he assures them they are.

“Sounds like you guys are having fun in here,” Karen says, peeking into their room with a grin. She waves excitedly when she has their attention. “Hello!”

There’s a girl slightly behind her, and Janis clocks her curly, dark hair first, and then their eyes trail down to her feet where there is a chocolate lab, sitting with his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.

Gretchen Wieners, biochemistry major. She’s from Chicago, Illinois; she enjoys cooking, baking, her dog, and long walks on the beach (Janis had laughed reading it, but they didn’t know if she was being for real or not); her pronouns are she/her, and she’s also a lesbian.

And her service dog: Fudge.

“Oh my god!” Cady squeals, immediately patting her thighs when she notices the dog. “He’s adorable! Is that Fudge? How old is he?”

It makes Gretchen light up and Karen steps aside to let Fudge pad into the room. He walks up to Cady and rests his snout in her lap, letting out a huff of air as Cady immediately starts scratching behind his ears. “He turns four in a few months.”

“Wow, it’s a party in here.”   
  


Everyone turns and Janis just about swallows their tongue when they see Regina in a fluffy, pink robe with a towel over her arm and a bag of toiletries in her free hand. Her hair is damp and she’s bare faced, now, a smattering of freckles covering her face as she smiles at all of them.

“The shower’s free if anyone wants it,” she continues. “And I know I talked to Janis about it earlier, but we were thinking we could all explore campus and get dinner together?”

They all look between each of their small groups and nod, making Regina smile wider. She tells them she’s going to get dressed, and if anyone wants to change they should, because they should head out before the dining halls close. There’s a bit of a walk ahead of them, seeing as Pines and 64 Degrees are the only halls open, so they have to make the most of their time.

Janis might’ve been anxious before, but as they pull on a light jacket and a comfortable pair of shoes for the walk, they just smile at Damian and figure that they can make something out of these roommates.

They look at Regina as they walk out into the living room, giggling as she pets Fudge, and smile.

**Author's Note:**

> did y'all have a favorite part? wanna discuss a headcanon? leave me a kudos and/or comment to let me know you enjoyed it, and if you wanna talk more in depth you can visit my askbox on tumblr @kingwisewolf!


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